President Obama’s selection of Judge Sonia Sotomayor as the next Supreme Court Justice was not only a brilliant move because she’s such a smart judge with a prize-winning life story, but also because it has certain intangile benefits.
For one thing, it will do a lot to improve the image of Latinos in this country – one reason why many Latinos are thrilled.?But at the same time, it may acually do more to improve race relations – between?the African American?and Hispanic communities, as outlined in this Time magazine article:
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1901249,00.html.
As every one knows, Latinos helped elect Barack Obama to be?American first black President by giving him a 67% of their vote and Obama has now returned the favor by selecting the first Latino Supreme Court Justice. The two minority communities have had a contentious relationship in the neighborhoods they share for years.
“The symbolism can’t be overstated,” says former New Orleans mayor Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League, one of the country’s largest African-American organizations.
“There is a much greater sense of solidarity now between the two groups.” Says Fernand Amandi, executive vice president of the Bendixen & Associates public-opinion-research firm in Miami: “Ethnic tensions won’t be ended by one Supreme Court nomination, but the picture of an African-American President standing with a Latina Supreme Court nominee shows the groups coming together at the highest positions in the country. That can’t help but improve relations.”
